VacationSelector
The Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower, Nairobi
NairobiThe Nairobi skyline with the KICC tower
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Nairobi by Lmwangi, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Nairobi or Xi'an?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Nairobi for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Nairobi’s own page.

Choose Xi'an for

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Nairobi and Xi'an are level on 4.
Food & drink. Nairobi 48, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Nairobi 35, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 46 points.
Nightlife. Nairobi 58, Xi'an 42: Nairobi leads by 16 points.
Nature & outdoors. Nairobi 84, Xi'an 62: Nairobi leads by 22 points.
Day trips. Nairobi 28, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 52 points.
Good for families. Nairobi 55, Xi'an 48: Nairobi leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Nairobi 20, Xi'an 66: Xi'an leads by 46 points.
Shopping & style. Nairobi 45, Xi'an 50: Xi'an leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Nairobi 60, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Nairobi 35, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Nairobi 25, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Nairobi and Xi'an.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Nairobi
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.

Xi'an
Best match
55match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Nairobi in July

24 °Cdaytime high
12 °Cnight-time low
11 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
12 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
NairobiXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Nairobi: 1991-2020 normals, Nairobi ACC/FIC/RCC/MET/COM/ (13.3 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureNairobiXi'an
Official languageEnglish, SwahiliPutonghua
CurrencyKenyan Shilling (KES)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+3UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 112/999, ambulance 112/999, fire 112/999Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation1,661 m405 m
Main airportJomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)13 km from centre60 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year10 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureNairobiXi'an
City population5,545,00012,952,907
People per km²7,9671,283
Museums within 10 km49
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Nairobi or Xi'an somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.